4774Papa

10 hours ago, Dancing Shoes said:

We went in 2010 and Celebrity only had the Xpedition.  For the Galapagos, this was considered one of the "bigger" ships to sail the area.  We had about 90 passengers.  I would pick this ship again.  Perfect amount of people and enough space to get away from others.  Have fun.  Best trip of our lives.  

Thanks, there was a rather small ship called the Exploration that had cheaper prices, but we were not ready for that small a ship.   The Flora's prices were about two grand pp higher, so that one was out.

We booked the Expedition for cruise on 30 April.

We just booked the 10 day tour that included two days in Quito prior to the cruise on the Expedition, then one day at the end.   The trip was expensive, but there are some great prices compared to what a Galapagos cruise was before COVID.  Based on reviews, this is the trip of a lifetime.  Our tour starts 28 April.

We live on an island just off the coast of SE Georgia, not far from the Florida border.   The only time that I have worn a mask in the past few months is when we took trips and flew (within the USA or one trip to Iceland in July).   It is rare to see anyone wearing a mask here.   My own physician tells the that the value of a cloth mask is negligible.

I don't pretend to be an expert, but I expect to eventually get a booster (I need to time it right for my next trip, since after six months I probably won't be considered fully vaccinated).

I don't want to go to Europe of places where the shutdowns are in force.   Looking at the Galapagos.

17 hours ago, Peery5 said:

What I wonder is, are the passengers who are testing positive on board, already infected when they came on? Or did they get infected while off the ship on excursions?  Would be interesting to know. Scheduled to leave 1/4/22. 

From what I read, vaccinated persons can still transmit the virus.  Boosters do help protect the individual from severe illness, but apparently we are expected to get boosters every six months.  Now, I will  have to plan trips and/or cruises around when I get a booster.

2 hours ago, stevenr597 said:

Please don’t flame me for bringing up this question….but

My wife and I are scheduled to sail on Celebrity in early January.  When we first booked several months ago, we were told that, in respect to the virus, that, “everything should be over by the end of the year.”

As we all know that is certainly not the case.  

In fact over the last week, we seem to be moving steadily backward.  The cruise lines are now drastically increasing restrictions, not only with vaccines (which we agree), but making it mandatory that unless you are eating or outdoors you absolutely have to wear a mask.  

We are also seeing countries beginning to close down. 

One of our worries is that the islands will only permit individuals to go ashore only with organized tour groups.

We are seriously considering cancelling our cruise, and hopefully getting a credit.

I am in my early 70’s.  I am a physician who has worked from day 1 since the Pandemic.  Many of my patient have become ill, and some have died. 

I am fairy well read up and educated in respect to Covid. We are fully vaccinated, in fact I received my 3rd Pfizer vaccine several months ago.  

But we are in fear of either becoming ill on board, being ill and stranded on one of the islands, and in an even wors case, having a epidemic on the ship.  

I, as a physician, do understand that there is no right or wrong.  But what are one’s feelings in respect to this.  

Would one put off cruising for the next several months. 

We have faced the same decision about foreign travel.    I know one only one person that has died of COVID19 and he was 94 years old.  I know a couple that had to be hospitalized for three days, all the others had a milder form of the virus.  Still, I am not a physician, but I have discussed travel with my physician and he and I agree that at some point we have to go out and live our lives (I am 73 and have been told my life expectancy is about 12 years).  COVID19 has already eaten up two years of my life.  We are ready to travel, however with all the restrictions abounding, especially in Europe, we don't want to get stuck somewhere or be quarantined for many days.  

My wife and I have a land tour of Israel and Jordan for March, but Israel has shut down to foreign travelers.   This my destroy our planned tour.   Also, we have postponed our East African Safari now twice from 2020 to 2021 and now until 2022.   We decided to travel in 2022.   We did a great 8 day land tour of Iceland in July and it was fantastic.

I say we go to parts of the world where restrictions are mild and tourists are wanted.   Yes, if we get COVID19 there is a risk, but frankly, the fatality rate is less than 1%.  We are healthy with no co-morbidities.

However, we are not so impressed with cruising.  No way will I cruise if I have to wear a mask.  

On 5/25/2021 at 10:00 AM, DavietheScot said:

Here are some ideas of what to see and do in the vibrant city of Buenos Aires.

 

http://happytravellingwithdavie.blogspot.com/2020/12/buenos-aires-south-american-city-with.html

Excellent post in your link, we did all the same things when we visited BA.  Loved the Tango Show.

Gate 1 has a great tour of Ecuador that includes three days in the Galapagos Islands and 9 more days in Quito, the coastal region and the Amazon River.

Looking for input on the three Celebrity ships, Flora, Expedition and Xpedition.

The Xpedition appears to be a rather small ship.   Not sure about choosing that one, even through it is the cheapest.   Flora is the most expensive and Expedition is second, but not much more than Xpedition.

Any advice forthcoming, thank  you?

We are looking at doing the Galapagos Islands either with Celebrity or a Land Tour with Gate 1.

The land tour is 13 days and cost 25% less than Celebrity's 7 day cruise.    Still, the cruise is very inviting.

X has three ships and the cheapest one is rather small.     The ships are the Flora, Xpedition and Expedition.   The Xpedition is less than 100 ft long.   The larger ships look like a better choice.  Not sure how the seas are in that part of the Pacific.

We did a wonderful four day tour of Cuzco, the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu with PeruAgency Tours.   It was a PRIVATE tour and total of $799 pp.   We paid our own airfare from Lima to Cuzco.

8 hours ago, zwallace said:

I just book an 11 day Canada/New England cruise for 2023.  I was just looking but there was an aft facing balcony cabin available.  Having never sailed in an aft cabin and always wanted to, I threw caution to the wind and booked it.  Who knows where we'll be with Covid, but I choose to believe things will be improved and I'll be able to fulfill my dream of an aft cabin! Happy birthday, happy anniversary, happy Valentine's day, Mother Day and Christmas to me!  Haven't told DH yet.  He'll get used to spending more to cruise I hope.

We loved our aft cabin on our Alaska cruise a few years ago.  Of course, that cruise was with NCL since X doesn't go to Glacier Bay.  The nice thing about an aft balcony is that if it is chilly outside, being in an aft,  you don't get the chilly wind.  Also,  you get to see so much.  We did another cruise in an aft balcony in 2015, Singapore to Dubai, but it had very little shelter and it was so hot, we hardly used it.

If you go Aqua Class cabin, you get to use the Spas at no extra charge.   If not, I believe you can pay for the Spa without doing a treatment.

We rarely do the specialty restaurants on X since the MDR is so good.  We have done Murano and Tuscan, which are excellent, but expensive.

On 11/28/2021 at 3:38 PM, molemaui said:

We are planning a couple of back to back cruises this winter. Previously we went from Celebrity (with no self service laundry) to Oceania, Silversea or Viking Ocean (all have self service laundry. You spend a day or so after boarding taking care of laundry - no problem. The same is true if you go to Celebrity from the others-do laundry before you leave the ship. 

 

If you are going Celebrity to Celebrity (either same ship or different ships) is the only alternative to use the ship laundry service or severely overpack? Sounds like a simple solution but I haven't figured it out yet! 😁

 

Thanks

If you are elite, you get a package of free laundry.   If not elite, spend about $75 and have Celebrity do the laundry.

On 12/5/2021 at 12:16 PM, ian441672 said:

We've always wanted to do the Norwegian Fjords which look spectacular, and we have seen the 2023 deals just out, for 9 nights in the (newly branded?) Sunset Sky Suite (Aft) for £8258 (approx $11000) including £600 OBC, which looks good. 

 

However, just seen a 12 nights Iceland / bit of Scotland and Ireland 12 nighter for same room for £9758 ($13100) including £800 OBC, which looks equally as spectacular.

 

So, spoilt for choice, can anyone give some views, anyone done one of both, or just suggestions?  Both are early August - decent weather up there?; bit of sunbathing?!

 

We did one of the first voyages around Greece / Dubrovnik this August on the Apex, so we know and absolutely love the ship, just deciding on the itinerary! I konw it wont be as quiet next time....!

 

Thanks.

We have done a Norway, North Cape (highly recommended) cruise and one visiting Scotland, Ireland and Iceland.  Both are excellent cruises.    Celebrity doesn't do a Norway North Cape cruise, but Royal C. and NCL do.  We did Royal C and loved it.  If you go to Iceland, go for a week and take the Ring Road Tour for a week with Nordic Visitor.  Iceland deserves that rather than one day.

9 hours ago, ccmacentee said:

I took advantage of the Black Friday sale and put deposits down on two Celebrity cruises.  I will only keep one of them so looking for some feedback.  Here they are:

 

Edge 7 night (Aug 2022) - Deluxe Porthole w/Verandah - Barcelona, Valencia, Ibiza, sea day, Portofino, Corsica, Florence/Pisa/LaSpezia, Rome  

Infinity 8 night (Sept 2022) - Deluxe (large) OV room - Rome, Florence/Pisa/LaSpezia, Nice, Provence/Marseille, sea day, Palma de Mallorca, Ibiza, Valencia, Barcelona

 

I know the Edge is newer and nicer, and I like a nice room. Cabins are larger, too. The Edge is about $1000 more for the cruise (solo pricing) but with a balcony. (OV on Edge is similar pricing to OV on Infinity, and I may change to OV).  I've been on Constellation and Reflection and loved both ships!

 

Which itinerary is preferable?  I have only been to Rome & Florence so the other ports will be new.  I plan to travel solo so that's a consideration, too.  

 

Thank you for any thoughts & feedback!

Personally, since the itineraries are very similar, would take the cheaper cruise.

1 hour ago, ocdb8r said:

This works when you're in the beginning of a redeployment and you have extra ships located in close proximity to those getting ready to be deployed.  Now that more and more of the fleet is in operation, there are fewer facilities to use for purely quarantine (and those that are available, may not be located where it makes sense for the eventual ships the crew will serve on).  Bottom line, this isn't a long term strategy.

 

As has been pointed out, NO wouldn't allow disembarkation of the infected crew member...as such, stuck finding somewhere for them on the Breakaway.

If you are on a cruise and one or more COVID cases are discovered, who is quarantined?  I know people that have been on overseas tours where even those with negative COVID tests are still quarantined for several days.

17 hours ago, cruzer0007 said:

Wife and I are considering a transatlantic crossing cruise, and cabin selection is already tight for 2022.  We have cruised many times, always prefer mid-deck/mid-ship locations, but all our cruising has been in the caribbean region.  Cabins we find for the transatlantic are either bow or stern, we know there is more movement there, but in a transatlantic crossing, is one better than the other ?  My guess is the stern would have (slightly) less movement than the bow, but have zero experience, or friend recommendations, to base that on. Also fully realize the sea conditions vary substantially, from one cruise to another, but for those who have experienced an atlantic crossing, is there anything you can share in regard to bow or stern cabins, and how much motion is typical ?

We have done three TA cruises and one TP cruise.    On none of those did we have any storms that caused the ship to  have significant movement.  Only one cruise that we did had a problem and we were in the North Sea between Norway and Iceland with a cat 2 hurricane that caused 40 ft waves.

We usually pick a stern location for our cabin and haven't been disappointed.  Go for one nearest the middle of the ship.

We didn't port in Abu Dhabi (Dubai), but did a great tour of the UAE called the 7 Emirates tour.

We visited the amazing mosque in Abu Dhabi.  Highly recommend that.

On 11/1/2021 at 1:38 PM, the penguins said:

No other major cruise line (including Royal) has gone the route chosen by Celebrity of introducing a pricing structure that impacts so disastrously on many of it's most loyal customers.

Celebrity has recognised the problem in an email from Marie Kirk, Celebrity Engagement Center based in Wichita, who stated " we appreciate that not everyone wants or needs a full beverage package or WiFi access, so we are working to address that".

If you want to make your views known you can email Marie Kirk,  celebrityengagementcenter@celebrity.com

NCL went with bundled pricing and it significantly raised their prices, reducing their competitiveness.

I will say this about X, at least they have opened the door to allowing the option of booking without AI, by logging in to your CC account first.  Still, those prices are still a bit high, but more competitive.  Royal still beats X most of the time for the long cruises that we like.

On 11/2/2021 at 7:45 AM, 4774Papa said:

Congratulations Celebrity,   I updated my cruise search yesterday comparing TA cruises from Europe to Florida for Fall 2022.   I found that X has opened the door wider to booking WITHOUT AI.

 

The catch is that we have to book a guarantee.  We can do that if the prices are descent.

 

Reflection-  Oct 31 Barcelona to FL  total for balcony guarantee  $3,969.48 

 

Constellation Oct 22, Rome to Tampa total for balcony guarantee $3,261.46

 

THEN, I compared to Royal C.

 

Vision of the Seas  Nov 4  Bar. to FLA.   Balcony $3,243.00

 

Odyssey- Rome to FLA    Balcony guarantee $ 2,721.42

 

Glad that Celebrity is now more competitive. 

I went back and redid the Reflection cruise and took the AI option, price was $4,572.48  or about $600 more for AI.  That was about $46 per day.

1 hour ago, jagoffee said:

Did you capture the regular lowest balcony cabin (with the one level upgrade) for the Reflection and Constellation cruises?  Just curious as to if is the $24.88 plus gratuities that is mentioned above.

 

 

I signed in with my Captain's Club and selected the guarantee balcony cabin.  Didn't check for the AI price.

Congratulations Celebrity,   I updated my cruise search yesterday comparing TA cruises from Europe to Florida for Fall 2022.   I found that X has opened the door wider to booking WITHOUT AI.

The catch is that we have to book a guarantee.  We can do that if the prices are descent.

Reflection-  Oct 31 Barcelona to FL  total for balcony guarantee  $3,969.48 

Constellation Oct 22, Rome to Tampa total for balcony guarantee $3,261.46

THEN, I compared to Royal C.

Vision of the Seas  Nov 4  Bar. to FLA.   Balcony $3,243.00

Odyssey- Rome to FLA    Balcony guarantee $ 2,721.42

Glad that Celebrity is now more competitive. 

30 minutes ago, PTC DAWG said:

Carnival.com

My Son has done Carnival and enjoyed his cruise, but not sure it is my style.

We like Royal Caribbean's smaller ships.  RCI has better entertainment than Celebrity and its MDR dining is pretty good, just a notch below Celebrity.   Our third choice was NCL, but they went with bundled pricing and their  prices are higher than RCI, while still lower than Celebrity.

We are not keen to cruise with masking all the time, so we will likely hold up on booking a cruise for a while.

GO GEORGIA BULLDOGS

1 hour ago, Spif Barwunkel said:

That is correct, hcat. Even more, it is about clarity of choice. That being said, does exclusivity come into play here? Do those folks with unlimited spending capability require less clarity in their cruising choices because a satisfactory bottom line is all that matters, exclusive of economic status? Whereas, those folks with more tightly controlled expenditures may not be as comfortable with what they are actually paying for, relative to their needs and desires. No matter how enjoyable and gratifying the vacation, if one is concerned about unnecessary expense, it casts a shadow over the entire experience. 

 

Choices are good, and, necessary. Too many choices, with too many variables, not so much.

Sure, some people have wealth so they don't have to be very concerned about prices.

I suppose we are what you call comfortable.   In, the last 10 years, since I retired, we have spent about $250,000 on travel and been to 78 foreign countries and 20 ocean cruises.  

Still, I was raised by parents that grew up during the great depression.  Waste not and seek value when you buy something.  Why fly Business or First class when tourist works?   Why pay thousands for a cruise with free booze and internet when on past cruises you enjoyed free happy hour drinks and a limited internet and only spent an average of about $350 (for two) on these items for a two week cruise?